Even as City Hall and Philadelphia’s firefighters union embarked on new contract arbitration last week, Mayor Michael Nutter yielded ground in his administration’s prolonged legal war with firefighters over their recently expired 2009 contract.

Bill Gault would sometimes borrow from The Godfather to illustrate the challenges confronting him as the elected president of Philadelphia’s firefighters union, which is in the midst of a four-year contract dispute with the city.

This week’s cover story on the deep fracture between Philadelphia firefighters and Mayor Nutter originally was scheduled to be published on April 10. But the weekend before, Fire Capt. Michael Goodwin of Northeast Philadelphia lost his life when a roof collapsed beneath his feet as he battled a blaze in Queen Village.

The earsplitting shrill of referees’ whistles and derogatory chants echoed from City Council’s balcony, deafening council members and spectators alike on the floor of the venerable chamber and rendering Mayor Michael Nutter’s ceremonial budget address secondary to the spectacle.